Hard Times Cost Store

Fewer Volunteers, Money Woes Will Force Thrift Shop To Close

June 19, 2004|By DAVID OWENS; Courant Staff Writer

CANTON — For four decades, the Twice Is Nice thrift shop has sold second-hand items to raise money for local charities.

That will be ending next month. The shop will be closing by July 20 because of a falloff in business, the difficulty in finding volunteers to staff the store and the reluctance of store organizers to sign a lease.

``We're not accepting any more donations, and also effective immediately we're having a 50 percent sale off everything, including fixtures,'' said Kathy Corkum, the former first selectwoman who volunteers at the store.

The thrift shop has about $8,000 in savings to distribute to various charities after all its bills are paid. Officials feared they'd have to dip into that money to cover operating expenses. That helped force the decision to close, Corkum said.

For 35 years the thrift shop has raised money for local charities, such as Focus on Canton, the Canton Fuel Bank and the food bank, by selling castoffs. The shop initially grew out of some local churches, but over the years became an entity unto itself.

Lately, fewer donations and declining business have meant that some months the shop did not generate enough revenue to cover its rent and utility charges, Corkum, said.

In addition, it became harder to staff the store.

``Like any other organization that relies on volunteers, it gets harder and harder to get volunteers,'' Corkum said.

Corkum describes the nonprofit group that runs it as ``people who decided there was a need in town and this was how they were going to meet it.''

As for the falloff in business, Corkum points to another nearby thrift shop, along with some major discount retailers.

Although the discounters, Wal-Mart and Ocean State Job Lot, offer cheap clothing, it's still not as inexpensive as the thrift shop, Corkum said.

The thrift shop is at 164 Albany Turnpike. And its summer hours are 1 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.